Island



(No Model.)

H. T. MORSE. SELF LBVBLING BBRTH.

ENITED STATES ATENT EEICE. I

HENRY T. MORSE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To WILLIAM F. ALDRIOII, or PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND. f

SELF- LEVELING BERTI-I.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters P Appuaen hea May Ie, 1891.

T0 all whom, it may con/cern;-

Be it known that I, HENRY T. MORSE, of

Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Self` Leveling Berths, of which the following description,in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to a berth for use in vessels and supporting mechanism for said berth, whereby the latter maintains its level as the vessel in which it is supported rolls.

The berth is supported directly upona controlling-frame, which is pivotally engaged with the frame-work of the vessel or wall of the state-room at a point above the berth, but is supported at a point below the berth on a supporting-frame itself sustained by hangers pivotally connected with the wall of the stateroom or frame-work of the vessel at two points, one at each side of the longitudinal axis of the berth. The result of this construction is that when the vessel rolls the berth has a lateral movement, but remains in substantially level position.

Figure l shows a side elevation of the supporting mechanism for a berth embodying this invention, showing the supporting framework or end of the state-room in elevation, the parts being represented in full lines in the position occupied when the vessel ison an even keel and in dotted lines in the position occupied when the vessel has rolled to aconsiderable angle from the normal vertical Aposition; Fig. 2, a transverse vertical section of the berth, showinga portion of the supporting mechanism in dotted lines; and Fig. 3, a detail showing a portion of the end of the berth and its supporting mechanism and frame-work in longitudinal section.

The berth a, Fig. 2, which may be of usual shape and dimensions, and is shown as provided with a Weight h distributed over its bottom, hasvat its ends transverse shoulders c, (best shown in Fig. 3,) which rest upon a crossbar d, Figs. l and 3, of a controlling framepiece composed of said cross-bars d and a vertical member d2, the upperfpart of which is engaged at a pointe with the stationary framework of the vessel, `(shown as the end A of the state-room in which the berth is used,) and is atent No. 464,625, dated December 8, 1891.

Serial No. 393,126. (No model.) i

pivotally connected at its lower end cl3 with a Supporting-framef. The engagement at the point e between the berth-controlling frame d d2 and the stationary frame-work A is merely such as to conine the said poiutof the frame cl d2 from lateral movement relative to the wall A of the state-room, the portion of the frame cl2 heilig slotted at d4, where it engages with the bolt or pin e, so that the latter does not sustain the frame d d2, but merely keeps its upper end in definite relation to the wall A and in upright position over the lower point of support at CF. rlhe said supporting-frame f is itself supported upon two hangers g g2, pivotally connected at g3 g4 with the wall A of the state-room, so that said frame hangs upon thelowerends of the suspended'links g g2, and moves bodily as the said links g g2 turn on their pivots, so that'each pointin the frame describes an are parallel with the arc described by the lower end of each link about its supporting pivot g3 or g4 as a center.Y The said frame and weight supported upon it tend to come by the action of gravity to such a position as to cause the supporting-links g g2 to state-room A from the full to the dotted line position, Fig. l, the points g3 g4 and e all move together from the full to the dotted line position; but the links g g2 remain substantially vertical in such movement, and the point cl3 has a motion which is due partly to the bodily 'motion of the supporting-points g3 g4, and is further due to the movement of the l links g g2 about the said Supporting-points, owing to the fact that the said links remain about vertical underv the actionof gravity. The result of these two movements of the point d3 is such that the latter receives mainly lateral movement, keeping the said point d substantially vertically beneath the point e,

at which the upper part of the berth-supporting frame d d2 is engaged with the wallof the state-room, so that the said berth-controlling frame remains, with the berth-supporting arm d, substantially horizontal during the entire movement, as shown by the full and dotted lines, Fig. l. By this construction the berth3 IOO partakes only slightly of the rolling motion of the vessel, remainingin substantially horizontal position and having only a lateral Inovement Without rocking about a longitudinal axis, as is the case When the berth is built into the vessel, so as to partake of all its movements. The pivot-pin e serves to sustain the end-thrust-of the berth as the `vessel pitches.

I claim- The combination of a berth-controlling frame d, pivotally engaged with the framework of the vessel at itsupper part, and the berth supported on said controlling-frame, with a supporting frame f, pivotally con- 

